EDITOR'S NOTE: Bill Wright is a self-employed businessman turned photographer. He travels exotic locales and captures in photographs the lives, emotions and cultures of people for his love of art, and because it helps him make better business decisions. He was recently named one of Abilene's 10 Most Influential by the Abilene Reporter-News. Following is an e-mailed journal entry to family and friends about his newest adventure - a trip to Kabul, Afghanistan.

What a day.

Not able to sleep but two or three hours during the night made me ready to get up early and get started. I went to the lobby about 6:00 am to get an ethernet cable to connect with the internet and stayed for a short breakfast.

Faideen, my driver and interpreter, was scheduled to meet me at 7:45 am for the trip to ASCHIANA. I wanted to get the computers set up and ready for action after lunch. Before leaving I downloaded over 200 emails, many of which were from friends wishing me the best of luck on the journey.

This was to be the big day---getting the cameras in their hands and making the first photographs. I was worried about being able to communicate adequately and hold the student’s interest. I need not have worried.

Faideen was right on time and I had my first real experience of driving in Kabul traffic. Cairo was a snap compared to Afghan drivers. Our trip to the school was mercifully short but in the space of only a few miles I thought I would be involved in at least a dozen collisions and witness numerous impalements of bicycle riders and pedestrians. It was a cacophony of color and motion---horns blaring---scowls passed between vehicles and seemingly non-existent rules of the road. No traffic lights were working since the end of the war.

Faideen was nonchalant. He carried on an easy conversation inquiring about my family and the state of the world. He was born in Afghanistan, but he left for Pakistan when the Taliban took over. After the war, he returned and hoped that they would never come back. We discussed the problems faced by his country and he said they were surrounded by enemies. Chief among them Iran whom he said infiltrated fighters constantly and who, it was commonly known, was responsible for the destabilization of Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan and other Moslem countries. He was also worried about Pakistan because he felt that only the capital, like Afghanistan, was secured, with radicals controlling the countryside in spite of the army’s efforts.

We arrived whole at the school and shortly Sarah arrived. One small problem. The room containing the computers and cameras was locked and no one could immediately locate the key. The efficient problem-solving Sarah went to work immediately and rousted the office manager from his sick bed [so he said] and the key was dispatched. Remarkable compliance for demands from a non-staff foreigner.

The class began filtering in at 9:00 am, the appointed time, but some were late. When they arrived, Sarah laid down the law. No more late showups. No certificate of completion if everyone is not here and accounted for. No one whimpered that I could hear.

We started with introductions and soon transitioned to explaining the functions of the new cameras. I was worried because the age of participants ranged from 12 to one university student who was 26. It was not a problem, it was an advantage as the older students assumed some responsibility for the younger ones.

We broke for lunch and I declined. The school served all the students a healthy meal of rice and vegetables. There was a lot of chatter about the cameras and the pictures they had already taken around the campus.

After lunch, the students went out shooting and came back to download into the computers. They were instructed in making folders and protecting their files.

Talk about excitement! Seeing their computer images on the big screen made them giddy. Even the older ones. We printed some of them off on plain paper and taped them to the wall. Proud didn’t nearly cover it.

By the time 4:30 pm rolled around, I was also giddy. Fatigue had overpowered enthusiasm and I was ready to get back to the room and get cool. [Of course, the school did not have air conditioning.] Faideen did a wonderful job assisting in the computer work and explaining how it all went together. Later he told me the day was a great success.

Back at the hotel, I slumped down in the room’s only stuffed chair and sucked down a liter of water.

It had been another good day.